AMAV VICDOC Winter 2024 - Magazine - Page 34
THERE ARE A FEW WAYS TO LOOK AT THE
IDEA OF A STRONG HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.
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There’s what a strong system looks
like for health services’ consumers, for
the government, for various interest
groups. Ultimately, I approach it from
the perspective of the people working in
the system, but it’s important not to lose
sight of all the parties and stakeholders
involved. A strong public healthcare
system has enough doctors and other
employees so that doctors can meet their
basic human needs. It includes job security
and professional advancement as well as
fair pay for fair work.
OUR MINISTERIAL REVIEW IS ARGUABLY OUR
STARTING POINT FOR REBUILDING CONFIDENCE
IN PUBLIC HEALTHCARE IN VICTORIA.
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Our submission focused on numerous
systemic shortcomings that are impacting
doctors at individual and collective levels.
We highlighted the short-term nature of
employment for doctors in training, and
the ongoing issues that raises. We asked
for better incentives and conditions for
doctors working in rural and regional
areas, for specialists’ pay to be equalised,
and for greater transparency about pay
from the 76 health services in Victoria.
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AMA VI C TO RIA
THE DEVOLVED NATURE OF VICTORIA’S HEALTH
SYSTEM MEANS WE HAVE 76 PUBLIC HEALTH
SERVICES, OFTEN WITH THEIR OWN WAY OF
DOING THINGS.
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In other states, like New South Wales,
there’s just one employer, with one
set of terms and conditions and HR
policies. In Victoria, health services can
have vastly different policies. This is
bureaucratic, confusing and unfair for our
members. To protect and support them,
we have developed two strong enterprise
agreements: one for doctors in training and
one for specialists. The agreements cover
38 health services in Victoria that employ
their doctors directly. Victoria’s devolved
system has forced class actions against 12
health services who are in breach of the
Doctors in Training Agreement. In 2023 we
won the first of these class actions against
Peninsula Health, so we’re making progress.
We expect that if the State Government
does not settle the cases, we will end up
taking action against all 38 health services.
WE WANT TO SEE LONGER TERM OR ONGOING
CONTRACTS FOR DOCTORS IN TRAINING,
TO INCENTIVISE BETTER EMPLOYER
BEHAVIOUR AND CONDITIONS.
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Doctors in training in the public system
are on short, fixed term contracts, which
means they must reapply for their jobs
multiple times before they qualify. It’s very
destabilising, with doctors often afraid to
raise issues or rock the boat lest they’re not
given a good reference. Another issue is
that workplaces are less inclined to make
positive changes or support the professional
development of short-term staff, because
there’s no incentive to invest in them.
We've been able to remove maximum term
contract restrictions from the Doctors
in Training Agreement and specifically
encourage longer term employment.
